Digging into digital craft through design fabrication

Archive

fabrication

Today we were able to construct our first successful cable guided fabric formed origami pattern. The structure is a modified barrel vault that possesses load bearing (spanning) capacities and also seeks a transition from a larger scaled opening at the front to a smaller opening at the back. This will help with fitting the structure underneath the sloping cable net above. As can be seen here, we have decided to forego the cable guided valleys as sharp transitions for a gravity induced sag which produces a catenary curved section in the valleys which will (in theory) give us a form capable of transferring load paths more efficiently in each diamond shaped “beam” spanning from node to node. Once iced, these beams will become the units that construct the spanning arches over the interior.

Using optimal stress flow patterns developed by Caitlin Mueller and her team at MIT we tested a new cable pattern linking three main anchor points on the site (two areas along the shoreline and the lighthouse). By distributing the loads of the fabric structures between these three areas this cable pattern allows us to distribute the load evenly along the cables, achieve enough stiffness in the cable net to pull up to with sufficient tension, as well as create lateral stiffness (from the horizontal funicular outer most boundary cables) to be able to pull at angles down to the ice. This video shows a time lapse of us constructing the cable that onto our 1:10 physical model.

This week we attempted to study how the folding patterns developed through a tensile net using “ridges” and “valleys” might be further explored by replacing the sharp “valley” folds (previously created by downward pulling strings) with curved valleys created by the weight of liquid wax (to mimic the influence of ice on the fabric). The model we used was the same interlaced diamond pattern that we had used previously that we now layered that with a synthetic/natural fiber blended fabric. Using a heated modeling table, paraffin wax was used to simulate liquid water (pre-freezing). Magnets were used to hold down the fabric pattern to the table, while strings attached to the frame around the table introduced the tension necessary to achieve the vaulting form. Once formed and the liquid wax was applied to the fabric layer, the heat was turned off to rigidify the model.

The resulting model showed some deformation of valleys caused by the wax, but some areas were less obvious due to the scale of the structure in comparison to the size of the folds in the pattern and the inability to create even and precise tension field on the cable net structure pulling up. In addition, due to the overall stiffness of the fabric and the number of facets on the vaulting form (causing there to be shallower valleys between the peaks) this model proved difficult to decipher.

The next step will likely include a scaling up of the fabric model on this heated wax table as well as using a pattern that has deeper folds in order to gain a more dramatic topography between the ridges and valleys produced by the tension net.

The Durotaxis Chair is a fully 3D printed multi-material dual position rocking chair designed by Synthesis Design + Architecture and manufactured by Stratasys. The chair is inspired by the biological process of the same name, which refers to the migration of cells guided by gradients in substrate rigidity. The chair is an ovoid rocking chair which has two positions, as an upright rocker and a horizontal lounge, and is defined by a densely packed three-dimensional wire mesh that gradiates in size, scale, density, color, and rigidity. The chair capitalizes on the multi-material printing capablities of the Stratasys Objet 500 Connex3 to produce gradients of material performance. The varying gradient conditions are expressions of the combined formal, ergonomic, and structural properties of the chair.

This piece would not be possible at all without 3D printing. Not only in terms of the complexity and density of the three-dimensional mesh, which would be completely laborious in any other conventional manufacturing process , but especially in terms of the gradient distribution of material properties and performance which would be impossible without the Objet Connex3. 3D printing is having a profound effect on the design industry. At the moment, the focus is on rapid prototyping, but the shift towards rapid manufacturing is imminent. It has the potential to revolutionize the industry and induce a new industrial revolution that enables true file to factory processes. The key on the design side is not how we design for the technology, but rather how we design with it.

The intention is that the Digital Lab at the University of Manitoba become a Resource and Laboratory for the exploration of digitally driven design, prototyping and manufacturing. The desire is to foster a context through which students and faculty are better equipped to explore the potentials of digital design and manufacturing processes.

Join us this Fall for our Lunchtime Lectures and Thursday Evening Workshops!

The pavilion draws on the prototype built by Philippe Block, Matthias Rippman and Lara Davis at the ETH Zurich, with which they demonstrated the reliability of RhinoVault, a plug-in for Rhinoceros, used for the design of the constructed dome.

The Malta-based architect’s current project is a look into how we can create playful, responsive architecture that does more than just sit in a fixed position. Called Morphs (Mobile Reconfigurable Polyhedra), these crawling, geometric structures are inspired by the slime mold Physarum polycephalum, an organism whose cognitive processes is based on its surrounding environment as opposed to being contained in a centralized brain like humans.

What is the future of creativity, manufacturing, and design? How is the Shapeways community and 3D printing enabling everyone to make their ideas real?
This film portrays how the Shapeways 3D printing community and marketplace is enabling everyone to be a creator. All you need is an idea and an Internet connection.